7.0 Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Southern Philippines

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 7 degrees, the epicenter was at a depth of 95.8km under the sea and about 210km southeast of Pondaguitan, Davao Occidental Province, on Mindanao island of the Philippines.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanoes and Seismics said the quake had affected neighboring cities and provinces in the region. The USGS said the earthquake’s likelihood of causing casualties or damage is low.

The US Tsunami Warning System said there was no danger of a tsunami. Deep earthquakes usually cause less damage on the Earth’s surface. The southern Davao area has suffered many strong earthquakes caused by geological fault lines in recent years.

7.0 Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Southern Philippines
The earthquake struck off the coast of the Philippines and had an impact in Indonesia (Image: Aljazeera)

Indonesia and the Philippines are both located along the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific, a faulty arc around the Pacific Ocean where most earthquakes occur in the world. The Philippines experiences about 20 storms and tropical storms each year. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

Last week, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi left 91 people dead and hundreds injured. Indonesian officials said at least 300 homes, one medical station were damaged and about 15,000 people had to take shelter in temporary shelters.

In 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Palu, on the island of Sulawesi, caused a tsunami and landslides. More than 4,000 people were killed, many of them buried when the entire neighborhood was swallowed up underground. A strong earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 left 230,000 people in dozens of countries, but mostly in Indonesia, dead.

Sourcekenh14

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